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Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Golden Puck Predictions 2012

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League will hold their
annual Golden Puck Awards Show tonight at some hotel in downtown Montreal.

Several members of the Saint John Sea Dogs are nominated
again this year. Nathan Beaulieu is nominated for the Émile “Butch” Bouchard
Trophy which is awarded to the league’s best defenseman, Gerard Gallant is
nominated for the Ron-Lapointe Trophy for a third straight year which is awarded to the coach of the year, and
Jonathan Huberdeau is up for the Paul-Dumont Trophy as personality of the year.

Sea Dogs goaltender Mathieu Corbeil will also be awarded
the Jacques Plante Memorial Trophy for having the QMJHL’s best goals against
average.

At last year’s event, Simon Despres was named Defenseman
of the Year, Gallant Coach of the Year, Mike Kelly General Manager of the Year,
and Jacob DeSerres received the Jacques Plante Trophy.

Here are our predictions for tonight’s awards show.

Michel-Brière Trophy - Most Valuable Player

Yanni Gourde - Victoriaville Tigres

Mikhail Grigorenko - Québec Remparts

Zach O’Brien - Acadie-Bathurst Titan

Prediction: Yanni Gourde – he led the league in points by
a wide margin, recording 124 points in 68 games. He helped setup 87 of
Victoriaville’s league high 311 goals.

RDS Cup - Rookie of the Year

François Brassard - Quebec Remparts

Anthony Duclair - Quebec Remparts

Zachary Fucale - Halifax Mooseheads

Mikhail Grigorenko - Quebec Remparts

Nathan MacKinnon - Halifax Mooseheads

Brandon Whitney - Victoriaville Tigres

Prediction: Mikhail Grigorenko – we see this as a three
horse race between Grigorenko, MacKinnon and Fucale. We’ll go with Grigorenko
since he led all rookies in scoring and is a MVP candidate.

Émile “Butch” Bouchard Trophy - Best Defenseman

Nathan Beaulieu - Saint John Sea Dogs

Jérôme Gauthier-Leduc - Rimouski Océanic

Xavier Ouellet - Blainville-Boisbriand Armada

Prediction: Jerome Gauthier-Leduc – led all defensemen in
scoring with 74 points in 62 games. In the words of Pierre McGuire, he’s a
monster.

Frank-J.-Selke Trophy - Sportsman of the Year

Ben Duffy - PEI Rocket

Zach O’Brien - Acadie-Bathurst Titan

Sébastien Trudeau - Acadie-Bathurst Titan

Prediction: Zach O’Brien – in just over two seasons in
the QMJHL, Zach O’Brien has not taken a penalty. Not one. Not a single roughing
or delay of game or anything penalty in 126 career games. He should probably
have an award named after him some day.

Michael-Bossy Trophy - Top Professional Prospect

Martin Frk - Halifax Mooseheads

Mikhail Grigorenko - Quebec Remparts

Brandon Whitney - Victoriaville Tigres

Prediction: Mikhail Grigorenko – he’ll be an early first
round pick at this year’s NHL draft.

Marcel-Robert Trophy - TELUS Scholastic Player of the
Year

Jonathan Brunelle - Cape Breton Screaming Eagles

Patrick Delisle-Houde - Moncton Wildcats

Jean-Philippe Mathieu - Rimouski Océanic

Michaël Bournival - Shawinigan Cataractes

Yanni Gourde - Victoriaville Tigres

Prediction: No idea.

Ron-Lapointe Trophy - Coach of the Year

Gérard Gallant - Saint John Sea Dogs

Jean-François Houle - Blainville-Boisbriand Armada

Patrick Roy - Quebec Remparts

Prediction: Jean-Francois Houle – it pains me not to give
this award to Turk but, man, how can you not pick Jean-Francois Houle? This
guy has done an unreal job with the Armada. A team many, including us,
predicted to finish dead last ended up finishing third overall and are now on
their way to the second round of the playoffs.

Maurice-Filion Trophy - General Manager of the Year

Joël Bouchard - Blainville-Boisbriand Armada

Martin Mondou - Shawinigan Cataractes

Patrick Roy - Quebec Remparts

Prediction: Martin Mondou - As much as we dislike Martin
Mondou (although that article in the Telegraph last week made us like him just
a little bit) he did turn the Cataractes into a respectable Memorial Cup host. Last
summer, things weren’t looking that great. But now, Shawinigan is a legit
contender for the national title.

Paul-Dumont Trophy - Personality of the Year

Mikhail Grigorenko - Quebec Remparts

Jonathan Huberdeau - Saint John Sea Dogs

Nathan MacKinnon - Halifax Mooseheads

Prediction: Jonathan Huberdeau - Not even sure what this
award means so we’ll give it to Huberdeau.